LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEWS - PHILOMENA, DON JON

PHILOMENA
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 1 November 2013 (UK)
Director: Stephen Frears
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan
Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival American Express Gala Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Stephen Frears is rapidly becoming the industry’s go-to guy for crafting powerful, intelligent and surprisingly moving film experiences based off of real-life, usually British, stories and events. His latest, Philomena, is one such terrific story that, much like his re-imagining of the events surrounding Princess Diana’s death in his superlative The Queen in 2006, does a sublime job of reminding us there is often nothing more disarming, surprising and cinematic than real life happenings.

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW - 12 YEARS A SLAVE

12 YEARS A SLAVE
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 28 January 2014 (UK)

Director: Steve McQueen

Running Time: 133 Minutes

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong'O, Sarah Paulson

Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival Accenture Gala Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

From the offset, there is an almost indefinable gravitas and cinematic clout to 12 Years A Slave that cement it as important, meaningful cinema as well as a likely critical and awards darling. And whilst there are traces of his signature filmic traits and tropes, most notably a confident and unabashed intimacy with oft-taboo peels of the human condition such as graphic sexuality, nudity and violence, this is surprisingly director Steve McQueen’s most accessible and mainstream outing as mentioned offers only fleeting similarities to his previous works Shame and Hunger.

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW - SAVING MR. BANKS

SAVING MR. BANKS
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 17 January 2014 (UK)

Director: John Lee Hancock

Running Time: 125 Minutes

Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell

Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival Closing Night Gala/World Premiere Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

There seemed to be, and perhaps even still remains, a modicum of confusion surrounding exactly what the purpose and plot of Saving Mr. Banks actually is, being a live action feature whose trailers and marketing offer clear links to the studios perennial family favourite Mary Poppins as well as what appeared to be Tom Hanks playing the big man himself (Disney, not god - though Emma Thompson’s character does get a cracking dig along those lines). Is this a drama doc retelling of the making of the musical fantasy we all know and love? Is it a biopic concerning Poppins’ original scribe P. L. Travers, or one of Walt himself? And what exactly does Colin Farrell riding horseback in the Australian outback have to do with it all?

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW - GRAVITY

GRAVITY
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 8 November 2013 (UK)

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Running Time: 91 Minutes

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris (voice)

Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival American Airlines Gala Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

It’s difficult when reaching for superlatives to describe the impact and majesty of viewing Gravity and not default for the predictable, trite, tabloid-friendly puns. ‘Out of this world’, ‘stellar’ and the like seem tailor-made for trashier film critiquing of Alfonso Cuaron’s 3D galactic drama, and yet despite this, as plaudits go they are entirely accurate and appropriate - there has been nothing quite like Gravity, and if even for the technical wonderment alone it comes as a must-see experience surpassing even the likes of Avatar and Prometheus as an exercise in aesthetic immersion and awe. At a time where 3D as a buzz word has seemingly had its heyday and some would say is hovering on the verge of Chapter 11, the past few years have nonetheless each seemed to offer a critical and commercial darling. After the initial Avatar surge, 2011 saw Martin Scorsese bring Hugo to cinemas, reaping a slew of Oscar nominations and wins in the process, and last year Ang Lee picked up his second Best Director golden guy for his stunning Life of Pi. Gravity is not only inarguably this years 3D offering of choice, but also very possibly the finest of the bunch, and will undoubtedly and deservedly attract similar awards notice come February.

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW - CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 18 October 2013 (UK)

Director: Paul Greengrass

Running Time: 134 Minutes

Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmd, Madam M. Ali

Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival Opening Night Gala Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Following on from the high-adrenaline, taught frenzy of his Bourne series, and having previously so successfully dipped into docu-drama with the likes of Bloody Sunday and United 93 (nabbing an Oscar nomination for Directing in the process), it is unsurprising that Brit director Paul Greengrass proves the perfect helmer for this gripping and at times surprisingly emotional adaptation of the real-life hijacking of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship at the hands of Somali Pirates which took place back in 2009. 

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW - ALL IS LOST

ALL IS LOST
Sponsored by ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL, LONDON

Release Date: 13 December 2013 (UK)
Director: J.C. Chandor
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Starring: Robert Redford
Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival Press Screening

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

J.C. Chandor’s latest, tense seafaring drama All Is Lost, is as relatively straightforward a concept and pared down a cinema-going experience as can be imagined. A lone sailor (Robert Redford) awakens somewhere in the Indian Ocean to find his yacht taking on water, courtesy of a lone storage container which has ruptured the side of his vessel. Isolated, stark and devoid of any other characters and practically free of dialogue, what ensues is a focused, enthralling, if occasionally frustrating, devolution of circumstances that pits the fortitude and resilience of our lone protagonist against the odds, all tinted with an aura of dread and inevitability given the films opening soliloquy which heavily implies the ending of his story will not be a positive one.